The 3rd Annual Tryon Arts and Crafts Fall Festival will be held Saturday, Oct. 16 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 17 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Featuring more than 40 of the finest artisans and craftspeople of the region, this two-day event will be held rain or shine on the grounds of Tryon Arts and Crafts on Harmon Field Road in Tryon.

In addition to shopping for handmade, one-of-a kind arts and crafts, visitors to the festival will enjoy food from local eateries, live entertainment and fun activities for the kids.

Guests will also hear a music lineup that includes the Shane Pruitt Band, Dana and Susan Robinson, Bradley Ditto, the Red Hot Sugar Babies and Thee Inner Cirkus.

Demonstrations in pottery making, lapidary, woodturning, weaving, as well as metalworking in the forge will be offered throughout both days. Visitors can even join in and try their hand at some of the crafts.

This year, the festival will have work on display from artists all across the region with a huge selection of items that vary in style, media and price (see box above).

In addition to the artists booths, Tryon Arts and Crafts will have student work for sale and a tent for work created by weavers and fiber artists.

Tryon Little Theater, Tryon Painters and Sculptors, Tryon Fine Arts Center, Childrens Theater Festival, and the Tryon Doll Makers have each been invited to have a booth. Artists and organizations will present works in everything from pottery to jewelry, handmade soaps to watercolors, wooden crafts to woven blankets, photography to leatherwork and more.

The event is free and open to the public. All donations will go to support the mission of Tryon Arts and Crafts. &bsp;

The festival received support from the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency of the Department of Cultural Resources, and the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes a great nation deserves great art.